The McMaggot, as the Murrayfield pitch worm has come to be known, had his peace thoroughly disturbed by the trampling feet of an England side happy to revert to swarming forward power. When the pack play like this, in devilish conditions, it becomes easy to forget the yearning for creativity behind the scrum. Never mind art, blow them away with heart.

England’s forwards were a marvel in the first-half here, compressing Scotland's thinking time to nano-seconds. Driven by indignation from the Paris defeat, Stuart Lancaster’s pack took to this chocolate cake of a field eager for a scrap. We have seen many seminars in bump and grind in Calcutta Cup matches. But this was far better than that. England’s pack sprinted into tackles, subduing their Scottish counterparts quickly and cleanly. Mud-rugby is rarely so compelling.

Deep in the England psyche is the urge to subjugate and control through sheer physical power. This was never going to be a day for the backs to show their wares, though Danny Care, Luther Burrell and company kept their feet moving well in this nature reserve for worms. England were tactically smart, slicing through Scotland’s frazzled defence when the opportunity presented itself but also kicking well for territory and mixing up the method of attack.

If there was a reason for Lancaster to worry it is that England’s lead was just 13-0 after 50 minutes, despite them battering the Scots for most of that period.

Again and again England swept towards the try-line only to be stopped inches short. This inability to convert chances into points has been a recurring theme. Two years on from Lancaster’s first fixture as England coach, he is still short of finishers, though Burrell has now scored in each of his two Six Nations outings. Jack Nowell, too, obeyed his brief by blasting down the flanks, but England’s coaches are still searching for a formula that will render this hard-working team truly clinical.

Finally, with Scotland down to 14, Mike Brown ended the long wait for a second England try with a 58th minute touchdown. Leading 20-0, Lancaster’s men could start to enjoy a game that showed up the poverty of the Scottish game.

The Calcutta Cup long ago ceased to be a Broadway show. England had not scored more than 15 points in any of the previous four Murrayfield fixtures and Charlie Hodgson was the scorer of their only try in that time.

Scotland, meanwhile, had won only two of their previous 11 Six Nations matches and were thumped by Ireland last time out. Secretly England used to dread coming to Murrayfield. Lancaster’s team merely flicked through the form book and saw an enemy they knew they could use to purge the frustrations of Paris.

The creativity debate could wait for another day. This was about physical authority, swagger, concentrated power. England were not lumbering bullies.

They were swift in thought and deed. The interest in rugby league’s Sam Burgess reflects in part a wish to make sure England possess enough of the domineering kind of player that held the 2003 World Cup winning side together.

Andy Farrell, Lancaster’s defence coach, hinted as much with his comment on Friday: “Sam can make an impact, that’s the type of person he is. He’s certainly a fighter and a warrior. He’s very similar to what we have in people like Luther Burrell, Billy Twelvetrees and Manu Tuilagi. Those type of people are pretty important.”

Similarly Will Greenwood warned in these pages that England need to temper their urge to accumulate marks for artistic merit (a desire that may reflect constant media and public pressure to add panache behind the scrum).

Greenwood said of the defeat in Paris: “England ultimately were victims of their own exuberant naivety. A willingness to keep playing in the same manner that had seen them claw their way back into the match eventually proved their undoing.”

Two years ago Lancaster picked a team of just 236 caps. Only four starters from that day were back in action here: Chris Robshaw, Dan Cole, Dylan Hartley and Owen Farrell. But England named the same matchday 23 for the first time in Lancaster’s 23 matches. With a Rugby World Cup only 20 months ago, there is a desire (and need) for continuity of selection. Yet with Manu Tuilagi, Christian Wade and Marland Yarde to return, there is still a sense of mystery about how the backs will line-up in 2015.

These England forwards, however, are a potentially mighty bunch. Lancaster’s band-of-brothers ideology is most apparent in the way they hunt as a gang and never shirk a battle. There is a chance for Courtney Lawes, Tom Wood and Billy Vunipola to advance from good to great. The front-row is working well. Robshaw’s captaincy improves and the bench bristles with powerful support.

Murrayfield, which is no longer the crucible of old, fell into a fug of muzak and disappointment as the teams left the awful pitch with England 20-0 winners.

This was a victory scored against pretty abject opposition but one which reconnected England to one of their deepest impulses. It was the most fun they could have hoped for in the filth and the cold. It should have been 30 or 40 points, not 20, and the finishing will need to be more instinctive and ruthless. The Paris agony has faded now, though. Only three more wins and victory in this Championship will make it go away.